-- Legendary Screen Dancer and Choreographer
pictured here from "An American In Paris"
(See article below where Rusty pays a visit with this 89-year old dance icon)

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful.
This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking.

-- Agnes De Mille

* * * * THE RHYTHM CLUB * * * *

THIS WEEK AT THE RHYTHM CLUB

THE HOLLYWOOD HORNETS TO PERFORM!!!

VINTAGE GOODS VENDOR!!!

Joya and Jerry proudly display their Hollywood Hornets sweaters!

We are so thrilled to announce that the Hollywood Hornets Dance Team will be previewing their new routine at the Rhythm Club THIS week, Wednesday, July 24th! The Hollywood Hornets team is helmed by Jerry Jordan of the Retroglide Dance Society in the Santa Clarita valley, and one of our good pals. The routine has been choreographed to be used in the Camp Hollywood Team Competition category...and our very own Ron and Robin Campbell are among the members of this outstanding group! Make sure to plan on coming down and cheer everyone on in this rare opportunity to see some of the best Lindy Hoppers around show their stuff!!!

Last week, Rusty had the great fortune to meet Hollywood dance legend, Alex Romero. Romero not only appeared in many musicals as a featured dancer ("On The Town," "An American In Paris"), but became one of Hollywood's most prolific film and television choreographers. His most famous work is the Elvis Presly "Jailhouse Rock" number. He began his dance career as part of a family Vaudeville act doing Spanish dancing. But when he saw tap dancing, that was it. He taught himself by watching other acts, and then taught his brothers. Good fortune brought him out to Hollywood, one thing led to another, and he soon found himself as Gene Kelly's assistant choreographer, a position he held for 40 years in addition to his own prinicipal choreography. He appeare in and then choreographed many of our favorite screen memories ("Seven Brides for Seven Brothers", "Take Me Out To The Ballgame", "Belle of New York," "Barkley's of Broadway," "Tom Thumb," and "The Band Wagon").

L-R Alex Romero, Carol Haney, & Gene Kelly from "On The Town"

L-R This time Alex gets the girl! "On The Town"

* * * * UPCOMING EVENTS * * * *

THE SPECTACULAR
$5 END-OF-SERIES PARTY THIS SUNDAY!
JULY 28TH, 2002

It's hard to believe it, but another terrific four-week series of classes is coming to an end in Manhattan Beach, so it's now time for us to commemorate this with our grand tradition: a DANCE! Yes, this Sunday night at 7pm, we will be having another fun End-Of-Series Party -- this dance is open to all of our students from all levels, as well as all of our friends and neighbors, so if you know anyone who has ever seemed a bit curious about swing dancing, bring them along. The dance is always well attended by our amazingly friendly students and everyone has a great time!!! It's held from 7pm until our noise curfew kicks in at 10pm, at the Neptunian Woman's Club at 920 Highland Avenue. (Yes, the very same place where we hold our Sunday and Monday lindy hop classes.) Make sure to come along and join us for this lively evening of music, dancing and fun with all your pals from the Lindy By The Sea community!!!

Coming up on Sunday afternoon, August 18th, Mora's Modern Rhythmists will be on hand with their incredible vintage swing sounds! You won't want to miss them -- they are simply one of the most talented bands anywhere. The coordinator of the Concerts in the Park rushed up to Rusty and Peter at last Sunday's event at Polliwog Park and asked them to teach a basic swing class when Mora's band played next month. They said they would be delighted, so make sure to come down and bring all your friends who might be interested in this thing called swing, and help support Lindy by The Sea while you're at it! Rusty will still be out of town (WAY out of town -- St. Petersburg, actually...) but Peter will be there, teaching the lesson as best he can, with a special guest teacher yet to be announced... So make sure to set aside the time NOW to come down for a truly great afternoon of music and dancing in Manhattan Beach as Mora's Modern Rhythmists swing Polliwog Park!!!

That's right! Hats off to all of you! Compliments to you! We constantly hear what wonderful dancers you are out there in the social dance world...but we don't know if YOU hear it! And we don't mean just wonderful dancers, but NICE people, to boot! So here's something we would like to share with you that came our way via Jessica. Jessica was at a party recently and a woman named Angela Connaughton introduced herself and said the following to her (paraphrased):

"I saw Rusty and Peter at Polliwog Park (at the Sunday swing concert) and
was impressed with their fun style. I have worked
at Arthur Murray's in the past for 10 years [later found out she is also US Salsa champion ca.1994]
and now teach jazz and tap. I also work with Debbie
to choreograph some of her numbers. Every swing
lead at Polliwog who was my partner turned out to
be one of your students. They were all clear leads,
although each had their own unique style, and were
also genuinely friendly and polite. Being an
instructor myself I know how much these results
mean to a teacher, so I felt it necessary to tell you what a great job you are doing
with your students."

As you all know by now, Rusty is off to Europe for several weeks of teaching, but realized that she wasn't getting paid enough over there to pay the rent when she comes home! If any of you would like to do privates -- please call her before Friday, so that she can set dates upon her return on August 21st. Tel: 310.606.5606

NEXT SWING DANCE SERIES STARTS IN SEPTEMBER!!!

Make sure to mark your calendars now and tell all your friends that the next great series of swing dance classes in the South Bay begin on the first three days of September! Rusty and Peter will be returning with their trademark teaching style for another four-week series of classes in Lindy Hop and everyone is invited!!! Set aside the dates and plan on joining us -- and don't forget, for those of you who have been with us for awhile, you can always come back through the classes again to brush up your technique and styling, or learn the "other side"!! For more information on our classes and online pre-registration, click HERE

* * * * LINK OF THE WEEK * * * *

THE HERRANG DANCE CAMP -- Even as we speak, one of the greatest swing dance camps in the world is wel underway in Sweden! The Herrang Dance Camp, run by world-renowned Lindy Hop performers The Rhythm Hot Shots, is a spectacular month-long camp that immerses you in Lindy culture like nowhere else on Earth. You sign up for classes in week-long segments and for the span of that week, you eat, drink, live and breathe lindy hop with fellow swing-enthusiasts and world-class instructors! Classes run all day, and the dances run all night. It really is twenty-four hours of swing, six days a week! Our own Rusty Frank has been asked to come over to teach Lindy Hop and Tap Dancing for the final week of classes and it is quite an honor for her!!! Check out this website to learn more about this camp and see pictures of the place. And then keep your eyes peeled for all the updates when Rusty gets back...the camp is a little eccentric at times, and we'll all be keen to hear how she enjoyed it!

*Wondering what the heck a "gate" is? This was a phrase popularized by 1940's comedian, Jerry Colonna, who would holler it out every time he was introduced on the Bob Hope radio program. It was a friendly salutation to a swing cat (dancer or swing music enthusiast).